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A weakened Iran has Iraq looking to curb Tehran-backed extremists in country

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A weakened Iran has Iraq looking to curb Tehran-backed extremists in country

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With Iranian influence waning in the Middle East, the Iraqi government wants armed groups, including factions within the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), to lay down their arms and join the state security forces or integrate into the state-recognized Popular Mobilization Forces.

Iraq’s foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, recently told Reuters that armed groups operating inside Iraq and outside state control are unacceptable.

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“Many political leaders, many political parties started to raise a discussion, and I hope that we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms, and then to be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government,” Hussein told Reuters. 

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There is also fear around the region, with the power vacuum left by the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and a decimated Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, that Iraq may be next to fall.

Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that the collapse of the Assad regime was the precipitating moment for the Iraqi government to make its move against Iranian militias. 

An Iraqi flag is flown at a protest. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

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“Right now, the Iraqis are wondering if they are next and everyone is fearful of the toxic influence and corrosive nature of Iranian influence in the state,” Schanzer said.

Foreign Minister Hussein told Reuters that he does not think Iraq is the next domino to fall.

The IRI is a group of armed Islamic resistance factions under the umbrella of the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance.” These groups are the most difficult for the Iraqi government to manage and were responsible for the attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan in January 2024. The IRI is aligned with Iran and has been engaging in armed operations against Israel and U.S. coalition forces since Oct. 7.

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Also operating in Iraq are the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF was formed in 2014 after Iraq’s Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for Iraqis to rise up and fight against the Islamic State. Tehran sent IRGC advisers, weapons and other military support to the PMF to combat ISIS, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency. 

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The PMF are formally recognized as an official part of the Iraqi state security forces and report directly to the prime minister.

Mourners chant slogans against the U.S. during the funeral of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, in the shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala, Iraq, on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

“Current discussions revolve around how to effectively manage the so-called Islamic Resistance factions, some of which have gained media prominence since Oct. 7 while conducting armed operations under the label of Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” Inna Rudolf, who studied the PMF at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital.

Many of these resistance factions, Rudolf said, have also registered brigades within the state-recognized PMF umbrella. 

“The question for decision-makers remains how to neutralize these elements and mitigate the risk of dragging both the PMF and the Iraqi state into a poorly timed geopolitical escalation,” Rudolf said.

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Rudolf pointed out that although Iranian proxies have been significantly weakened since Oct. 7, pressure has intensified in light of reports suggesting Israel could retaliate against Iranian groups inside Iraq. 

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends a ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 9, 2024.

Many observers of the region think Iraq’s attempt to rein in armed factions at this moment is a sign of Iran’s diminished position in the region.

“The fact that major security sector reform in respect to the Popular Mobilization Forces is being conducted at this time is representative of Iran’s weakened role in the country and an imperative amongst more moderate forces, as well as the U.S., to seize on this and create momentum,” Caroline Rose, a senior analyst and head of the Power Vacuums Program at the New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital.

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Elections in Iraq are scheduled for this fall, and Prime Minister Sudani is attempting to negotiate an acceptable form of bilateral security cooperation with the U.S., including the status of U.S. forces inside the country. The U.S. currently has about 2,500 troops serving in Iraq as part of the anti-ISIS Operation Inherent Resolve effort.

Observers of the region agreed that if Iraq is unable to demonstrate its ability to rein in rogue groups conducting armed operations against the prime minister, sustaining security cooperation with the United States, especially under President Donald Trump, could be impossible.

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Stocks fall and oil prices gain after Trump warns the Iran ‘clock is ticking’

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Stocks fall and oil prices gain after Trump warns the Iran ‘clock is ticking’

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks mostly retreated and oil prices jumped on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran that the “clock is ticking” as U.S.-Iran negotiations over a permanent end to the war stall.

U.S. futures fell and markets in Japan and South Korea pulled further back from their records. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 60,815.95, a decline led by technology-related stocks. It reached all-time intraday high levels last week above 63,000.

The yield on the 10-year Japanese government bond surged to as high as 2.8%, its highest level since the late 1990s, part of a shift toward higher yields as the Bank of Japan gradually raises interest rates and higher energy costs raise expectations of rising inflation. That’s up from around 2.55% just one week ago.

Seoul’s Kospi climbed 0.3% to 7,516.04 after trading lower earlier in the day. It crossed the 8,000 mark for the first time on Friday, supported by buying of technology shares driven by the boom in artificial intelligence, but later declined partly on profit-taking by investors.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.4% to 25,596.68. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 4,131.53, after China reported weaker-than-expected retail data for April.

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Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.5% to 8,505.30.

Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.7%, while India’s Sensex fell 0.1%.

Oil prices rose after Trump warned Iran in a social media post that “the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them” following a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump has set deadlines for Iran and then backed off, so investors have remained cautious about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and how it is impacting global energy flows, including oil and gas. The strait is still mostly closed, and the U.S. has also imposed its own sea blockade on Iranian ports since last month.

A drone strike over the weekend on a United Arab Emirates’ nuclear power plant added to worries over a potential escalation in the conflict.

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Brent crude, the international standard, gained 0.7% to $110.02 per barrel. It was trading at roughly $70 a barrel in late February before the start of the Iran war. Benchmark U.S. crude was trading 0.8% higher to $106.31 per barrel.

“Re-escalation risks are increasing,” ING commodities strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a research note. While there has also been a pick up on shipping activities over the past week around the strait, they said, “this can change quickly.”

The pair also noted that the oil market was reacting to the lack of tangible results on the Iran war after last week’s widely-watched summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, even as the White House said both the U.S. and China had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.

U.S. officials had hoped that Beijing could use its influence, given its economic ties with Iran, to help broker a peace agreement and reopen the strait. Trump said last week in an interview that Xi told him China “would like to be of help” in negotiating an end to the war. So far it’s been unclear how Beijing might do that.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury was at around 4.60%, up from 4.47% last Thursday and sharply higher than the nearly 4% level it was holding at before the Iran war.

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On Friday, the benchmark S&P 500 dropped 1.2% from the record it set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 1.5%.

In other dealings early Monday, the U.S. dollar rose to 158.86 Japanese yen from 158.62 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1635, up from $1.1622.

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Canada confirms hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak that has killed three passengers

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Canada confirms hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak that has killed three passengers

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Canadian health officials on Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned from the MV Hondius cruise ship, the subject of an international Andes hantavirus outbreak, tested positive for hantavirus. Three people connected to the outbreak have died.

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The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the positive test after British Columbia’s top public health officer previously described the case as a “presumptive positive.”

“One individual’s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus,” the agency said in a statement.

Officials said additional testing will be conducted at a national laboratory. It was not immediately clear whether that testing was for confirmation, strain characterization or another purpose.

CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER DESCRIBES UNCERTAINTY AFTER 3 DEATHS AMID HANTAVIRUS PROBE

Experts say cruise outbreaks get more attention due to public reporting rules, but many travelers still plan to sail as booked. (Myloupe/Universal Images Group)

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The development comes as global health officials continue monitoring the rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius, which has sickened multiple passengers.

As of May 13, the World Health Organization said 11 cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case. Those figures included three deaths. The Associated Press later reported that the Canadian confirmation brought the number of people from the ship who had tested positive to 10.

Canadian health officials said four Canadians returned home from the MV Hondius, though only one has tested positive for the virus.

RARE HANTAVIRUS HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION SUSPECTED ON LUXURY CRUISE SHIP WHERE 3 HAVE DIED

The rare Andes virus, which was linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak, is the only known hantavirus strain that has the capability to spread from person to person, usually through prolonged close contact. (Andres Gutierrez/Anadolu)

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The confirmed patient and a traveling companion — identified as a Yukon couple in their 70s — returned from the cruise together. The companion later tested negative, officials said.

A third person in their 70s from Vancouver Island remains in isolation, along with a British Columbia resident in their 50s.

So far, no confirmed U.S. cases tied to the cruise ship have been reported, though WHO said as of May 13 that one U.S.-repatriated passenger had inconclusive laboratory results and was undergoing retesting.

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Pictured is the MV Hondius, the cruise ship tied to a hantavirus outbreak after a stop in Argentina that left three passengers dead. (Europa Press Canarias via Getty Images)

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Last week, however, health officials in Ontario County, New York, announced they were investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case unrelated to the cruise ship.

The Ontario County Public Health Department said there was no risk to the general public. Officials also said the strain typically seen in the United States is not known to spread from person to person.

The outbreak linked to the MV Hondius began after the Dutch cruise ship, carrying 147 passengers and crew members, departed Argentina on April 1 for a South Atlantic voyage.

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The outbreak has prompted heightened precautions internationally, including in the Netherlands, where Radboud University Medical Center quarantined 12 staff members after officials said a hantavirus patient’s blood and urine were not handled under the strictest protocols recommended for the virus strain.

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The outbreak has also sparked comparisons to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel previously told Fox News Digital there is “no comparison.”

He noted hantavirus is difficult to spread.

Passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken Hondius cruise ship walk with their belongings after disembarking at Eindhoven Air Base, Netherlands, on May 12. (Piroschka van de Wouw)

“It’s not airborne … in terms of respiratory droplets hanging in the air,” he said. “It’s very difficult to transmit.”

While coronavirus “moved in the direction of humans in a significant way,” hantavirus has not, except for “very rare” cases of human-to-human transmission, he added.

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The World Health Organization has assessed the risk to the global population as low, while noting that current evidence suggests subsequent human-to-human transmission may have occurred on board. Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to have documented person-to-person transmission, though such spread is considered rare.

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Siegel also noted hantavirus cases have been reported in the United States for decades, though they remain “very rare.”

Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller and Angelica Stabile, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

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Moment of collision between two Navy jets at Idaho air show

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Moment of collision between two Navy jets at Idaho air show
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Two US Navy jets collided during an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, sending both aircraft crashing to the ground in front of spectators. All four crew members ejected safely before impact.

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